Dory Funk Jr.
| birth_place = Amarillo, Texas | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Ocala, Florida | billed = | trainer = Dory Funk, Sr. | debut = July 1963 | retired = March 1, 2008 }} Dory Ernest Funk Jr. (February 3, 1941) known professionally as Dory Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional wrestling school. His students and friends participate in a wrestling show, local to Ocala, Florida, called !Bang!. Dory is a former world heavyweight champion, having held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once. To date, he was the fifth longest reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time, holding it for over four years. In addition, he also held the major heavyweight titles (but not officially recognized as World Titles): WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once, the CWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a 2009 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee. Professional wrestling career Training Dory Funk Jr.'s career in professional wrestling began in January 1963 just after a college football career with West Texas State University culminating in a 15 to 14 victory over Ohio University in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Dory Funk, Jr.'s first match was a victory over Don Fargo in Amarillo, Texas. West Texas State University All American Jerry Logan was in Funk's corner and Fargo's brother, Jim, was in his corner. Dory was also supported by the whole West Texas State University football team and the Tascosa High School amateur wrestling team. Dory was doing his student teaching as coach of the Tascosa High wrestling team under Coach James Kyle. National Wrestling Alliance Dory Funk, Jr. came to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1968 and went on to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Gene Kiniski on February 11, 1969 in Tampa, Florida and remained NWA World Champion for the next four and a half years, which is the second-longest uninterrupted reign of any NWA World Champion (Lou Thesz held the NWA world title from November 27, 1949, to March 15, 1956). Dory and his brother, Terry, are the only brothers in history to each hold the title. Funk finally lost the NWA World Championship on May 24, 1973 after a hurried recovery from a pickup truck accident on his father's Flying Mare Ranch in West Texas. Dory was forced into the ring in Kansas City, losing the belt to Harley Race. Some people do not believe the accident actually occurred. Funk was originally scheduled to face Jack Brisco for the championship on March 2, 1973, which many at the time believed he would come out on the losing end of. According to Brisco, Dory Funk Sr. did not want his son to lose the belt to another babyface wrestler. Thus, the convenient "accident", allowing Dory Jr. to "lose" the gold to heel Harley Race and claim that he lost by returning to the ring too soon after being injured. Dory Jr. still claims that the accident and injuries were real. Race held the title only a few months before dropping it to Brisco. He performed regularly throughout the NWA, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Florida and Central States regions, through the 1970s and early 1980s. In December 1984, he and his brother Terry competed in a tag team match against Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen that later received a 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer. In January 1986, Dory (given the nickname "Hoss") made his WWF debut in a team alongside his brother Terry. The brothers performed at WrestleMania 2 defeating the Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana. Terry left the WWF shortly after WrestleMania, but Dory remained, mostly tagging with "brother" Jimmy Jack Funk, who in truth had no relation to the Funk family. He made a single appearance with the WWF as a participant in the 1996 Royal Rumble. Later years Funk is now the Coach of the Funking Conservatory Professional Wrestling School and teaches the Dory Funk Method of Professional Wrestling. Dory's students include Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Christian, Lita, Kurt Angle, Mickie James, Edge, Ted DiBiase, Test, and Delirious. On March 1, 2008 Funk and Nishimura defeated Genichiro Tenryu and Masanobu Fuchi in Funk's retirement match via Spinning toe hold. On the February 16, 2009 episode of Raw, it was announced that Dory along with his brother Terry would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009 by Dusty Rhodes On the April 1, 2010 edition of TNA Today, Dory Funk appeared on the show to have an interview with Jeremy Borash. Personal life Dory married his first wife, Jimmie, on June 8, 1960. Together, they have three children: Dory III, Adam Dirk (born May 13, 1965) and Penny. They also have five grandchildren: Dory IV, Jennifer, Sheldon, Bob and Coby. They later separated and were officially divorced on July 6, 1983. Dory III went into medicine and now practices out of Colorado, Dory IV is now training to be a wrestler under Dory Jr. In December 1980, Dory met his second and current wife, Marti. They married in 1989. Dory also has a daughter Doris and son David, as told in his WWE Hall of Fame Induction speech. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Cloverleaf'' - innovated **Piledriver *'Signature moves' **Abdominal stretch **Atomic drop **Belly to back suplex **Delayed double underhook suplex **European uppercut **Russian legsweep **Vertical suplex *'Managers' **Gary Hart **Jimmy Hart **Sir Oliver Humperdink Championships and accomplishments *'All Japan Pro Wrestling' **NWA International Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **World's Strongest Tag Team League (1977, 1979, 1982) - with Terry Funk *'Cauliflower Alley Club' **Other honoree (1998) *'Championship Wrestling from Florida' **NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (4 times) **NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Funk **NWA Florida Television Championship (2 times) **NWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **[[NWA North American Tag Team Championship|NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Florida version)]] (2 times) - with Terry Funk (1) and David Von Erich (1) **NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Continental Wrestling Association' **CWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Georgia Championship Wrestling' **NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Funk *'International Championship Wrestling' **ICW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling' **NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'National Wrestling Alliance' **NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2006) *'NWA Hollywood Wrestling' **NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NWA International Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Terry Funk **[[NWA Los Angeles Tag Team Championship|NWA World Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles Version)]] (1 time) - with Terry Funk *'NWA Western States Sports' **[[NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)|NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)]] (2 times) **NWA International Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Terry Funk **[[NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version)|NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version)]] (1 time) **NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (6 times) - with Ricky Romero (2), The Super Destroyer (2), Ray Candy (1), and Larry Lane (1) **[[NWA Texas World Tag Team Championship|NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas Version)]] (2 times) - with Terry Funk *'New England Wrestling Alliance' **NEWA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI Match of the Year (1973) vs. Harley Race on May 24 **PWI Match of the Year (1974) vs. Jack Brisco on January 27 *'Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum' **Class of 2005 *'Southwest Championship Wrestling' **SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Funk *'St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame' *'St. Louis Wrestling Club' **NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Stampede Wrestling' **[[Stampede International Tag Team Championship|NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version)]] (1 time) - with Larry Lane **Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame *'World Wrestling Council' **WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **WWC World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Funk *'World Wrestling Entertainment' **WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009) *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards' **Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996) *'Other titles' **New York Heavyweight Championship (1 time) See also *Dory Funk Jr's event history External links * WWE.com Profile * Dory Funk Jr. profile at CAGEMATCH.net Category:George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Category:American wrestlers Category:Wrestling executives Category:Funk family Category:Second Generation Wrestlers Category:WWE Hall of Fame inductees Category:!Bang! 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